Pune doctor attacked with sharp weapon for refusing to abort fetus

Representative ImagePUNE: A gynecologist’s refusal to bend the rules made him the target of a deadly attack on Saturday at Sakhi Hospital at Pimple Saudagar where he works. He was attacked with a sharp weapon by an unidentified man, three weeks after he had refused to abort the 20-week fetus that the suspect’s woman friend was carrying.

The gynecologist, Amol Bidkar (37), suffered a gash on the left shoulder and an injury to a finger. He managed to push the suspect away and fled from the hospital with his two young daughters who were with him.

The Sangvi police have registered the offence under sections 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

Speaking to TOI, Bidkar said, “The assailant, who is aged around 25, came to my clinic with two women about 20 days ago. One of the women was middle-aged while the other was around 20. The man told me that the younger woman was two months’ pregnant and wanted to undergo an abortion.”

Bidkar said that when he examined the woman, he realised that she was around four-and-a-half months’ pregnant. “I told the man that aborting the fetus at this advanced stage would pose a risk to the woman’s life. However, he began insisting that I perform the abortion. But I refused, citing the rules,” he recalled.

Bidkar said the man contacted him over the phone about a week ago and again requested him to perform the abortion. “I told him that the fetus would be around five months old now and again turned down his request,” he said.

The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, allows the abortion of fetuses only up to 20 weeks.

Bidkar said he was in his ground-floor cabin in the hospital with his two daughters on Saturday night while his wife, also a doctor, was on the first floor of the building. The family had planned to go out for dinner. A few patients were waiting in the OPD.

“Around 9.45pm, the assailant barged into my cabin accompanied by three other men. He once again demanded that I perform the abortion. When I refused yet again, the man whipped out a sharp weapon and attacked me first on my finger and then on the shoulder. I managed to push him away and run out with my daughters,” Bidkar said. Taking advantage of the panic that ensued, the assailant and his accomplices fled from there.

Bidkar said he later learnt that the assailant had been lurking around the hospital since 7pm that day. “A few patients in the OPD told me that he had entered and left the hospital a number of times before the attack while his accomplices were standing outside,” he said.

Bidkar said the man had told him that he was from Khadki. “We suspect that he gave a false name to the hospital,” he added.

Speaking to TOI, assistant inspector B A Nanaware said there were no CCTV cameras inside the hospital. “We have been unable to get footage from establishments around the hospital either. We are trying to track down the cellphone from which the suspect had contacted Bidkar a week ago. Unfortunately, Bidkar had not saved that number, but we are working on some clues,” he said.

Doctors plan protest rally

About 100 members of the Sangvi Pimple-Gurav Doctors’ Association (SPDA) gathered outside the Sangvi police station on Sunday morning and demanded the immediate arrest of the assailant. They observed a bandh on the day to condemn the attack.

The SPDA has also planned a silent rally this week. “Till the assailant is arrested, all our members and pharmacists in the area will wear black armbands,” said SPDA president Pradip Nanaware.

Earlier this year, increasing incidents of attacks on doctors by patients’ relatives came into sharp focus with medicos launching a protest demanding a stricter law for their protection.

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